Study of spiral growth on 4H-silicon carbide on-axis substrates

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth Vol. 475; pp. 251 - 255
• Main Authors: Masumoto, Keiko, Kojima, Kazutoshi, Okumura, Hajime
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: A1. Growth models; A1. Surfaces; A3. Chemical vapor deposition processes; B2. Semiconducting silicon compounds; Dislocations; Epitaxial growth; Epitaxial layers; Semiconductors; Silicon carbide; Silicon substrates; Substrates; A1. Growth models; B2. Semiconducting silicon compounds; A3. Chemical vapor deposition processes; A1. Surfaces
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2017.06.028

•Growth conditions for spiral growth on on-axis SiC substrates were investigated.•Spiral hillocks with a tilt angle larger than off-angles of substrates are necessary.•Dislocations were not detected around the boundaries between spiral-growth hillocks. We grew epitaxial layers on on-axis carbon-face 4H-silicon carbide substrates and investigated the growth conditions for the generation of spiral growth. We discovered that spiral growth occurs in regions where the local off-angle is less than 0.05° and when the spiral hillocks have a tilt angle of 0.06°. Moreover, we found that each spiral hillock coalesced without causing dislocation in the areas where the spiral growth occurred. Our results indicate that spiral growth is dominant when the spiral hillocks have a tilt angle greater than the off-angle of the substrate. Step-flow growth is overcome by spiral growth because the rate of spiral growth is greater than that of step-flow growth.